Westland - Trail of Painted Ponies - Cheyenne Painted Rawhide - Horse

Westland, Trail of Painted Ponies, Horse, Cheyenne Painted Rawhide

An appreciation of all earthly and spiritual gifts in the Native American culture and traditions led this gifted Montana artist to create a Painted Pony that honored an authentic Native art form not widely known. After thoroughly researching the Cheyenne woman’s tradition of painting abstract designs of spiritual significance on dressed, buffalo hides, Liz conceived of a Painted Pony design that, in the words of a tribal elder, “is a beauty and has won my heart.” The original “Cheyenne Rawhide Pony” was selected as Best of Show by Southwest Art Magazine in “The Native Art of Horse Painting” competition.

Some of the earliest recorded artistic expressions drawn on cave walls by Paleolithic painters, used the horses as a source of inspirational imagery. With the public art projects The Trail of Painted Ponies, leading Southwest and Native Americans artists have continued and updated that tradition, imaginatively transforming life size polyurethane horses into stunning works of art. With this book, the photographs of an stories behind the Painted Ponies are collected and presented for the first time.